Toy ground installations having selfpropelled toy vehicles thereon



Aug. 16, 1966 A. EINFALT TOY GROUND INSTALLATIONS HAVING SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLES THEREON Filed NOV. 4. 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 16, 1966 A. EINFALT 3,266,136

TOY GROUND INSTALLATIONS HAVING SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLES THEREON Filed NOV. 4, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 16, 1966 A. EINFALT 3,265,186

TOY GROUND INSTALLATIONS HAVING SELFPROPELLED TOY VEHICLES THEREON Filed Nov. 4, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ii 1 1b 59 57 United States Patent 3,266,136 TOY GROUND INSTALLATIONS HAVING SELF- PROPELLED TOY VEHICLES THEREON Alfred Einfalt, Nurnberg, Bavaria, Germany, assignor to Gebruder Einfalt, Nnrnherg, Bavaria, Germany, a firm Filed Nov. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 321,062 Claims priority, applicatign (germany, Dec. 24, 1962,

t, 4 11 Claims. (Cl. 46--2t)2) The invention relates to a toy ground installation or layout with a continuous track for toy vehicles movable thereon, with stopping points for the vehicles and with components which can be set in motion by the vehicles through the intermediary of levers.

In a toy layout of this type it is proposed according to the invention in order to increase the interest in the toy, that the layout be made to represent a camping ground and the components movable by means of the vehicles represent persons visiting the camping ground, amusement apparatus and the like.

The track arranged on the toy outlay encircles an inner area representing a camping ground on which, for example, facsimile tents, automobiles and the like are distributed. This inner area can also be provided with patches representing water, hills and dales.

In this manner it is possible in further developing the idea of the invention, to provide at least at opposite points of the track, control members projecting in the path of travel of the toy vehicles, which are interconnected by transmission levers which engage the components to be operated, either directly or through the intermediary of link systems. The transmission levers are preferably equipped with toothed segments so that such transmission levers cooperate in pairs and are positively connected by intermeshing toothed segments.

These transmission levers are mounted in known manner on the underside of the track for the vehicles and the toy layout plate carrying the camping arrangement, so that projections such as lugs or pins formed on the levers extend through slots in the plate and serve partly as controlling means and partly as means for engaging or setting in motion the movable parts of the toy layout. Thus a miniature childs swing can be actuated by a projection on a lever to which a swinging movement is imparted. A projection on another lever can actuate a miniature merry-go-round. Then again a miniature ship, such as a sailing boat, can be moved to and fro by a transmission lever, preferably through the intermediary of a connecting rod. This connecting rod is preferably connected out of center to the boat so that during its to and fro motion it can also swing about the engagement point of the rod under the influence of stops or cams on the toy outlay plate.

Finally it is also proposed according to the invention that each of the ends of two positively interconnected transmission levers has a projection hooked onto a slide carrying a miniature figure or animal. These slides are guided at their free ends in slots in the plate of the toy with the result that, according to the direction in which the levers are turned, the miniature figures mounted thereon move towards or away from each other.

To still further add to the effect of the toy layout, a known stopping device for the toy vehicles is provided in the range of at least one control element. This stopping device consists in known manner of an aperture in the track into which a drop lever braking the driving mechanism of the toy vehicle can fall and out of which it can be lifted by an inclined surface on a transmission lever.

The control elements on the transmission levers project through the toy layout plate, preferably through slots arranged in the track for the toy vehicles, so that control elements on the bottom of the toy vehicles are used for actuating the transmission levers. These control elements are arranged out of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle so that they can move past the projections on the transmission levers serving as control elements, as soon as these are shifted into their extreme position.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view looking from above on a toy installation according to the invention;

FIG. 2 a top plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a section taken on line lII-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 a bottom view of a toy vehicle movable on the toy installation or layout;

FIG. 5 a front view of the vehicle shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 a plan view of a detail of the toy installation taken on a larger scale;

FIG. 7 a section taken on line VII-VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 a section taken on line VIII-VIII of FIG. 1;

"FIG. 9 a section taken on line IXIX of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 a section taken on line X--X of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 a section taken on line XIXI of FIG. 12;

FIG. 12 a plan view of the toy installation shown in FIG. 2 but after the movable parts on the layout plate have been swung; and

FIG. 13 is a section taken on line XIIIXIII of FIG. 1, while FIGS. 14, 15 and'16 show different miniature figures and mechanical apparatus actuated by the component parts movable on the toy outlay plate.

The toy installation or outlay is composed of a plate 1 with a continuous track 2 pressed therein and representing a camping ground with occupants and apparatus for amusement, and toy vehicles 3' and 3 movable on the track 2.

On the inner area 4 of the plate 1 encircled by the track 1, a miniature tent 5, a lake 6 and an imitation automobile 7 are arranged. Mounds 8 and 9 are embossed in the inner area 4. Within the inner area 4 are arranged movable toy objects in the form of miniature dogs 10 and 10", figures 11 and 11", a ship 12, a childs merry-goround 13 and a swing 14.

On the under side of the plate 1, transmission levers 15, 16, 17 and 18 are mounted to swing about pivot points 15, 16', 17' and 18' respectively. Each of these pivotable transmission levers 15, 16, 17 and 18 has a projection; namely, the lever 15 carries the projection 19, the lever 16 the projection 20, the lever 17 the projection 21 and the lever 18 the projection 22. Each of these projections 19 to 22 extends through one of the curved slots 23 formed in the plate 1 in the region of the track 2.

Each of the transmission levers 15, 16, 17 and 18 is equipped with a toothed segment, these segments being numbered 24, 25, 26 and 27 respectively, the tooth segments 24 and 25 of the levers 15 and 16 and the toothed segments 26 and 27 of the levers 17 and 13 being in engagement with each other. This means that, when for example the projection 20 of the lever 16 is shifted, the lever 1.5 with its projection 19 is turned.

The toy vehicles 3 movable on the track 2 can be equipped with a driving motor in conventional manner. Each of these motors is provided with a known drop lever 28 for stopping the vehicle. On the under side 29 of the toy vehicle 3, a control element such as a plate 30 is arranged outside the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which plate, when the vehicle runs over a slot 23, successively shifts, in the case of the vehicle 3 in FIG. 1, the control projections 22, 21 and 20 from the position shown in FIG. 1 into the position shown in FIG. 12.

The displacement of the projections 19, 2t 21, 22 imparts a turning movement to their respective transmission levers 15, 16, 17 and 18. These in turn actuate or move the different apparatus or figures arranged on the plate 1. Thus for example the turning of the lever 16 constructed in the form of a plate causes the childs merry-go-round 13 to rotate This rotary movement is derived from a hook 31 formed on the lever 16 which engages a toothed wheel 32 mounted underneath the plate 1 on a shaft 33 which projects upwards through the plate 1 and is guided at its upper end in a bearing bracket 34 above which it carries the childs merry-goround comprising seats 35 mounted on a beam 36. A cross-shaped entrainment element may be provided instead of the toothed wheel 32, as shown in FIG. 12.

The movement of the toy boat 12 is also controlled by the lever 16. For this purpose this lever 16 is linked to a connecting rod 37, the free end 38 of which extends upwards through a slot 39 and pivotally mounts the hull at] of the toy boat 12. The point where the end 38 of the lever connecting rod 37 engages the boats hull is also arranged out of the transverse axis of the boat so that the movement imparted to the boat 12 by the lever 16 can be superimposed by an additional swinging movement imparted to the hull by its coming into contact with stops or cams 41 provided on the plate 1.

The miniature swing 14 is actuated by the lever 15, the projection 42 of which extends through a slot 43 in the plate 1 and bears laterally against the gondola 44 of the swing. When the movable part of the swing, that is the gondola, has swung out suificiently far, the projection 12 can slide past under it. The swing will then continue to move to and fro until it again gradually comes to a standstill, because when the projection 42 is in its extreme positions it is not in contact with the gondola 44 of the swing 14.

Whereas the positively interconnected levers 15 and 16 actuate the miniature amusement apparatus in the embodiment of the miniature camping ground illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, the transmission levers 17 and 18 effect the movements of the miniature dogs 10 and figures 11.

T 0 give an apparent purpose to the movements of the figures and animals they are made to move either towards or away from each other. Therefore the projection 45 of the lever 17 and the projection 46 of the lever 18 have each a pin 47 and 48 respectively, which pins project upwards through slots 49 and 50 in the plate 1 and engage one end of slides 51 and 52 respectively upon which are mounted figures 11 and 11". The free ends 53 and 54 of these slides 51 and 52 are guided in slots 55 and 56 formed in the side of the mound 8. As the levers 17 and 18 are positively interconnected, the projections 45 and 46 and consequently the slides 51 and 52 linked thereto must move towards and away from each other. The slots 49 and 50 are arcs of circles drawn from the centers 17' and 18' respectively. As the slides are also guided at their ends 53 and 54, the turning movement of the figures 11' and 11" by the levers 1'7 and 18 are superimposed by a swing movement of the figures 11 and 11" so that these, after having moved towards one another, face each other, whereas when moving apart they turn away from each other. A similar construction is provided for moving the miniature dogs 10' and 10". The said dogs are mounted on slides 57 which are linked at one end to one of the extensions 5'8, 59 of the levers 17 and 18 and guided at their other ends 60 and 61 in apertures 62 and 63 in the mound 9 formed on the plate 1.

Finally, in the example illustrated, the stopping point 64 for the vehicles 3 is coordinated to the projection 21 of the lever 17 serving as control element. This stopping point consists of an enlarged aperture 65 of the slot 23, so that the drop lever 28 of a vehicle 3 can descend therein.

The lever 28 can only descend when the lever 17 is in the position indicated in FIG. 2, that is, when the projection 21 is in its extreme position in the direction of travel of the Vehicle indicated by the arrow 2; in FIG. 1. When the projection 21 is in this position, the corresponding projection 22 on the lever 18 is at the front end of the slot 23 in the direction of travel of the vehicles. If a vehicle 3 runs against the projection 22 and shifts this with its lever 18, the projection 21 will be swung by its lever 17 in the opposite direction to that in which the vehicles travel. As the lever 17 has a bentdown part 66, as can be seen from FIG. 8, the drop lever 28 Will be lifted out of the aperture 65 because this bentdown or sunken part Will be gradually replaced by a part bearing directly against the under side of the track 2 through the turning movement of the lever 17; see FIGS. 11 and 13. The vehicle halted at the stopping point will therefore be able to continue its travel and at the same time shift the projection 21 back into the position shown in FIG. 1, so that this projection is again in operative position for stopping the next following vehicle.

What I claim is:

1. A toy ground installation comprising a plurality of self-propelled toy vehicles, a plate with an inner area simulating a camping ground and being surrounded by a closed track for guiding the operation of said self-propelled toy vehicles running thereon; a plurality of mov-' able toy objects arranged within said inner area; a control system of interconnected control members mounted beneath said plate, said control system having a plurality of movable parts projecting through a corresponding plurality of apertures in said plate for effecting movement of the movable toy objects within said inner area; said control system also having at least one control member projecting into the path of travel of said vehicles on said track and being operative under the control of a vehicle moving along said track to effect movement of said movable toy objects through said control system.

2. A toy ground installation according to claim 1, wherein said control system includes at least two cooperating transmission levers each of which comprises a control member projecting into the path of travel of vehicles running along said track at different points to effect movement of said toy objects, the control arrangement being such that one control member effects a movement of one of said movable toy objects in one direction and the other control member elfects a movement of other of said movable toy objects in the opposite direction thereby effecting a complete cycle of movement of the movable toy objects during one cycle of movement of said vehicles.

3. A toy ground system installation according to claim 2, wherein the cooperating transmission levers are connected by toothed segments.

4. A toy ground installation according to claim 2 wherein some of said transmission levers are provided with projections spaced from the control members, said projections extend through slots into said inner area and actuate certain of said movable toy objects.

5. A toy ground installation according to claim 4 wherein one of said movable toy objects is constructed as a swing adapted for swinging round an axis which is arranged in spaced parallel relation with the plane of said inner area, the swinging movement of said swing being effected by one of said projections pushing the swing at least a short time.

6. A toy ground installation according to claim 4 wherein one of said object-simulating parts is constructed as a childs merry-go-round rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the plane of said inner area, the rotation of said merry-go-round being effected by other of said transmission levers, said other of said transmission levers having a hook formed thereon for engagement with a toothed wheel secured to the merry-go-round.

7. A toy ground installation according to claim 4 wherein one of said transmission levers is linked to one end of a connecting rod, the other end of which is provided a projection holding a movable part simulating a boat to which a to-and-fro movement is imparted by movement of said transmission lever and said rod.

8. A toy ground installation according to claim 7 wherein said projection of said rod carries the boat eccentrically, said boat is mounted rotatable on this projection and abutments are provided on the inner area of the installation projecting into the path of movement of the boat thereby imparting to the boat in addition to the to-and-fro movement effected by the projection a turning movement effected by the boat knocking against the abutments.

9. A toy ground installation according to claim 4 and including two horizontally movable slides, each slide being linked to a projection on one of the two transmission levers and supporting some of said movable toy objects, said slides each being guided at their free ends in slots formed in said plate in said inner area, thereby superposing upon the turning movement of said projections a further turning movement of the slides with another swivel circle, whereby the toy objects anranged on the slides may move in opposite directions to effect said cycle of movement.

10. A toy ground installation according to claim 2 and including a stopping device for the vehicles comprising an aperture in the track for receiving a droplever for stopping the driving mechanism of a vehicle, said stopping device being arranged at least in the slot of one of said control members, and one of said transmission levers being provided with a sloping surface for lifting said droplever out of the aperture.

11. A toy ground installation with self-propelled vehicles having at least one control element carried thereon and projecting into the range of the control members as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control element is arranged out of the longitudinal axis of said vehicle but within the range of the track so that the said control element may intercept control members of the transmission levers to thereby actuate said movable toy objects.

FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1952 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. F. B. LEONARD, L. J. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A TOY GROUND INSTALLATION COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLES, A PLATE WITH AN INNER AREA SIMULATING A CAMPING GROUND AND BEING SURROUNDED BY A CLOSED TRACK FOR GUIDING THE OPERATION OF SAID SELF-PROPELLED TOY VEHICLES RUNNING THEREON; A PLURALITY OF MOVABLE TOY OBJECTS ARRANGED WITHIN SAID INNER AREA; A CONTROL SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED CONTROL MEMBERS MOUNTED BENEATH SAID PLATE, SAID CONTROL SYSTEM HAVING A PLURALITY OF MOVABLE PARTS PROJECTING THROUGH A CORRESPONDING PLU- 